How do you keep your bedding dry in wet weather?

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I meant when they were little, but.....


Good!

X2 what aart said! I actually just put a couple curtains up to block my neighbors auto light.

 

[Debbie292d]

Don’t do it! I did it and it was the worst mess ever!!! It turned into this heavy material like cement! Ugh…it was a nightmare and were a backyard flock so the trash ppl wouldn’t collect my green waste can because of it since everything was too heavy. We had to make a trip to the dump to get rid of it all… Nightmare, and the even worst part of it all was — It was dry only a few centimeters on top, but underneath it stayed wet, it never dried out. Even with days and days of Sun and dry weather — Good Luck! I ended up sticking to Pine shavings and Coop refresher/First Saturday Lime and a lot of ventilation and raking

Sounds like yuck then. I'd just stick to horse bedding pellets personally and skip the deep bedding as that's not good in winter climates anyway as it holds moisture. If you don't have it cold there, then whatever works best!

For the coop, there is zero maintenance throughout the year, and we only change the pellets out in the spring. By that point it's dry fluffy sawdust mostly, with dried-out poops so makes great mulch! The brooder I stir the pellets daily because there are so many in such a small place and their little feet don't do much for stirring.

 

[Onyxflock]

We don't get wet enough for that. Our ground drinks up everything it can as fast as possible. I did check out the discoloration on the rafters and they are all bone dry. I have a feeling that they were there before we converted this area into a chicken coop. It was originally an open shed.
I'm going to try mixing pellets into my shavings and see how that goes. I would LOVE to see the poop hammock pictures again so I can see if I might be able to work something like that into my coop design.

Also, it's very neat with the shavings wall to wall, but not totally necessary.
If you pull the shavings away from the walls and away from in front of the door, that would prevent seepage moisture and keep it drier. The wood floor would have a chance to dry out without the shavings on top.

I like to make a big pile under their roost, which catches poop and peep on the top. Every couple of days it gets raked around, dry shavings raked to the top and the poop goes down & dries up. Poultry bedding/shavings are designed to absorb moisture and eliminate odor. The big pile is more dry volume to wet, so it works better and keeps odor down.
Usually the ladies have kicked the rest of the shavings around all over the floor, so it all gets raked and the dry poops and trash scooped out. Make a nice new pile under the roost. Throw new shavings on once a week to keep it fresh. I also have a big rosemary plant so keep branches around in the roost.
Change it out every couple of months.

I learned this from this site. Called the deep fill method. It has really worked for me, and I think saved money on bedding.

 

[Hildib]

I'm finding that my bedding is getting moist as the weather is changing. I use wood shavings and deep bedding method. Under the roost, which is near the door, my bedding looks damp and has clumps. I have a wood floor so this is NOT desirable, nor is it aromatic. I have more ammonia smell. I use Sweet PDZ stall refresh and add bedding regularly. I have also removed and replaced all the bedding under the roost recently. Is there anything else that might be of help for keeping my bedding dry?
I have also put the old bedding in the run to keep my little flock from walking in mud as they have defoliated their run. Of course, this bedding is wet from rain. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

In my hens outdoor area I’ve been using pine straw, sage and mint leaves scattered for smell, on top of that I’ll sprinkle hay. The pine straw doesn’t break down like the other stuff if it gets wet. Inside I use the mint and sage with wood and pinewood shavings. In the winter I tried the deep bedding method inside the hen house. In their boxes I only use the pine or wood shavings.

 

[Boppo]

I'm thinking that my chickens are bringing in the moisture. They don't stay inside when it rains. But it is only affecting the area under the roost. I'm attaching MULTIPLE shots of my coop.
There are no roof leaks and the ventilation under the eves are fully protected. One of the doors has a big draft problem. I solved it with stapling cardboard all over it. I want to build a leanto in the run so they will have more protection from the rain but my handyman is really busy. Considering putting a tarp across the top in the meantime, like the white one on the end of the smaller run.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Will be trying to add pine pellets as soon as I can purchase some.

Tarp over the run will definitely help, but won't last more than a couple seasons, in my experience. Be aware that a tarp will make it darker under there, but you seem to have a run that is spacious and it might not be a huge problem. There are tarps that are strong and translucent, called Queen of Tarps. You might consider using some of those for the run cover to let in more light below.

Here is an article about managing mud. Basically, you want coarse chopped bark mulch. Shredded pine is OK, but it breaks down so quickly that you might bankrupt yourself throwing pile after pile into the mud. I have used shredded paper, pine shavings and large, chunky bark/wood mulch. The chunky stuff is a bit harder to walk over, but it lasts longer than anything else, and does a good job covering the mud and absorbing its water. Does your town have a park where they shred up tree limbs or fallen trees? That would be an ideal place to bring some big buckets or bins, or even strong plastic bags to fill for free.

 

[Paper_Wadder]

I'm finding that my bedding is getting moist as the weather is changing. I use wood shavings and deep bedding method. Under the roost, which is near the door, my bedding looks damp and has clumps. I have a wood floor so this is NOT desirable, nor is it aromatic. I have more ammonia smell. I use Sweet PDZ stall refresh and add bedding regularly. I have also removed and replaced all the bedding under the roost recently. Is there anything else that might be of help for keeping my bedding dry?
I have also put the old bedding in the run to keep my little flock from walking in mud as they have defoliated their run. Of course, this bedding is wet from rain. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I would try adding wood ash from a clean wood (not treated lumber). This absorbs both foul odors and moisture. Also maybe try a heat lamp during the day when drying is at its highest potential.

 

[kismit]

for our run area i use a mix of chopped straw and dry den pellets. its covered, so as they get wet (blown in rain) i toss another layer on to prevent puddles. however in their hen house, when i can't find shredded hemp, its pretty much a diy fresh flock, using straw and pdz and some alfalfa and either of those or a combo *over* some of the pellets, easy to rake the poop out every couple of days, avoids the sawdust dilemma bc there's the upper layer catching the wet. seconding the queen of tarps, i need to replace our current original tarp with it.